


The Witch and the Ghost

by CheryBee



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, POV First Person, Slow Burn, idk - Freeform, maybe? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26937778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheryBee/pseuds/CheryBee
Summary: A witch, frozen in time, wakes up. A witch will have to learn how to live in the forest of a soul eating ghost.
Relationships: Snatcher (A Hat in Time)/Original Character(s), Snatcher (A Hat in Time)/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 76





	1. Frozen in time

**Author's Note:**

> I am a new writer, please be nice. I definitly won't upload every week but I'll do my best.  
> (also english isn't my first language so if there's any mistake, please tell me)

It was a beautiful day that day. The leaves were gently swaying with the wind. Subcon Kingdom was full of life, like always, everyone was happy. I don’t live in the kingdom. Most people are afraid of witches or magic users in general so I live in the forest at the edge of the kingdom, the Subcon forest. The only time I go there is for business. As the only witch around people sometime call me to heal the sick. Healing magic and potions were my specialty.

I was just coming back from tending my garden when suddenly the sky turned dark and the wind grew cold. I could feel it, in the air, the magic around me. I knew what was coming. I knew it was only a matter of time before the Queen would go crazy. The magic in her soul was wild and wanted nothing more than to get out. And suppressing it was not helping.

Her mother seeked my help to get rid of the magic in her daughter when they discovered her ice power. There’s nothing I could’ve done. One can’t just remove their magic. Then, many years later, the Queen asked me if I could do something for her, about her prince. I refused of course. She still gave me a large sum of gold to keep quite about her request. I accepted. I shouldn’t have, but I knew what she was capable of. The royal family was nothing but bad news. Except for the Prince.

I immediately closed the door behind me and started a ritual for protection. The ice was coming closer and closer to my little cottage. I was going as fast as I could but in the end, the ice was faster. It was cold… so cold. I felt like I was dying, then everything went black.

\--

A little hatted girl was exploring around. She knew the forest like the back of her hand but today, she would go further than usual. There in the wood, she saw a cottage covered in ice. Putting on her brewing hat, she threw a potion and the door busted open. Inside were multiple bookshelves full of books or jars, a very messy desk, a frozen cat but most of all, a person, holding an open book in one hand and a stick in the other. The women had hair so long that it reached her knees. She wore a pointy hat and dress, both a dark purple.

Of course, the little girl immediately went toward the cat. It looked like it was looking at her with its big yellow eyes. The poor thing was most likely dead. As she walked to the iced person she noticed in one of the jar a flicker of light. Looking closer, it was a little flame, shivering in the cold but still looking strong and warm. The girl wanted to grab it but the jar was too high and fell instead. When it hit the ground, the cottage got immersed in blinding light and warmth.

When the little girl opened her eyes, the sight before her made her gasp. The inside was no longer frozen, the fireplace was lit and the once ice statue was now a very much alive person.

\--

I blinked once, twice. Did the ritual actually worked? But everything felt so real. The cold. The nothingness. When I looked around, I could definitely see that the ritual was unfinished. But then how? Suddenly, my eyes fell on a girl, standing inside my living room. She wore a purple hat that seemed too big for her head. When did she get here?

“Who are you?” I asked, confused.

“Holy peck! You're alive, like actually alive! And just one second ago you were an ice statue!” she was just as confused as I was. Wait… Did she say an ice statue!? “Oh… Sorry I'm Hat Kid! Nice to meet you!”

“Hold on. Did you say I was an ice statue?”

“Yeah!” so it's true.

“How long was I out?”

She looked up the ceiling, thinking “Mmmh… I dunno, but what I can tell you is that were in 2020.” 2020.. I was out for almost three centuries! Am I now stuck in a frozen wasteland? I immediately put the book away and ran toward a window. Outside I could see the forest. Dark. Gloomy. Dead. Nothing like the green and lively Subcon forest I once knew. At least, it seemed like the ice melted with time. Well, most of it.

“Yeah… It probably looks different than before everything froze.” She looks down, avoiding my gaze.

“Do you know your way around here?” I ask Hat Kid. She immediately lights up.

“Of course! I could probably walk around eyes closed!”

“Can you show me around?” I don't want to do it alone. Stars know what changed while I was a ice statue.

“Yeah! Follow me!” She didn’t even finished her sentence that she was already outside. “By the way, you never told me your name.” She looked back at me.

“Oh…! Well my name is Marigold.”

When I stepped outside, I immediately felt the magic around me. It was definitely stronger than it was before. The forest was different. The trees were bigger and taller and they didn’t look very healthy, almost dead. Giant spiders were hanging from every trees. No other living creature in sight.

“What would a little girl like you do in a forest like this? It’s not really a place for a child.”

“Weeelll… Something that belongs to me landed in the forest. I needed to get it back. And I think the forest is neat! Great for exploring.” Any other kid would be scared here, but not her. What a weird little girl. “Beside, it's not like I'm defenseless or something. I was almost killed more than once! And I survived!” She said it with a bit too much enthusiasm for my liking.

“Anyway… Did anyone else survived?” I was hoping that I wasn't the only one but deep down, I knew it was impossible…

“Uuuh… Do ghosts count?” Ghosts? Now that that grabbed my attention. I think I read a book or two about them.

“It depends. Are the ghost you're talking about dwellers or spirits?” Dwellers and spirits were two different things. Dwellers were only a memory of someone life, they couldn't talk or do anything. Spirits were rare. They are “born” from negative energy and emotions. If someone die feeling strong negative emotions, there’s a chance they might become a spirit.

“Well, most of them are dewellers.” It's not very surprising “And I don't know what you mean by spirit”

“Well…” How to explain… “Spirits are… like the ghost in stories! The ones that haunt people.”

“Oh! Then yeah! There’s definitely one!” Oh! That's exciting!

“Have you met one?” Maybe Hat Kid would have more infos about them.

She nods “He even tried to kill me but I defeated him!” What was this kid made of!? “Then we became BFFs!” This girl really surprised me more and more. Spirits were very interesting and rare and she befriended one just like that. “Maybe you could meet him, but I don't know if he would like that…” Meet? A spirit? My day was getting better and better!

“I would love that!” Oh, I could see the face of my witch friends, green with envy. Well, I don't think they’re alive anymore… Even if witches can live for very long…

“And maybe you knew each other!”

“I doubt it. I wasn’t the most welcomed in the kingdom…”

“Why?” Hat Kid asks. I don't know if I should answer but, what do I have to lose.

“Because I'm a witch. People don’t usually like us.” Hat Kid look at me and then smile with the brightest smile I've ever seen.

“That's so cool! Does that mean you have magic? Oh! Wait look at this!” She takes out a witch hat and put it on her head. She then pull out a potion out of thin air and throw it on the nearest tree. As soon as the potion hit the target, it exploded, leaving a burnt mark on the tree and purple smoke. I was very impressed.

“How did you do that?” She looked at me, like I was asking how water was wet.

“You should know, aren’t you a witch?”

“Of course but it doesn’t work like that!”

“Whatever! My hat make the potions and I throw them.” It still doesn’t answer my question… “Let's get going!”

We walked for a little while before nearing where the Subcon Kingdom once was. Trees have grown all over the place, making the forest even bigger than it was. Most of the building were either gone or in ruins. After a while, we stopped in front of the biggest tree I've ever seen in my life. The tree was hollow with furniture inside, probably a house or something like that. Suddenly, the air around me became cold and someone spoke up…

“Care to tell me who that is, kiddo?”


	2. Greetings

“Care to tell me who that is, kiddo?” The voice was loud and echoey. However, Hat Kid didn’t look impressed. “First of all, I've never said you could invite people over and second of all, you’re not even allowed to be in my forest!”

When I turned around to face the owner of the voice, I was met with a big and tall purple ghost with what looks like to be fluff around where the neck would be. I've never seen such creature before, it was incredible. Golden eyes glanced at me before going back to Hat Kid.

“C'mon Snatcher, we're BFFs! Why wouldn’t you want me here!” Hat Kid says with the smugest face ever.

Snatcher cross his arms “We are NOT! You just scribbled all over my contract, it doesn’t count!” The ghost was pointing an accusing finger to the girl.

“Um… Hello,” I waved, trying to lighten the mood.

“I found her in a cabin in the forest! She was turned into an ice statue. And then, I don’t know what happened but she was back to life!”

“Yes. Apparently quite some time passed until I woke up…” Snatcher smiled, fangs visible, but there was no warmth in it.

“Well, hello there! I am the all powerful and all terrifying soul Snatcher and here, you are in MY forest!” he said, trying to be scary.

“I'm Marigold!” I move my hand forward, waiting for a handshake. Snatcher looked rather taken aback by my reaction to his sinister greeting. I put my hand away after realizing he won't shake it.

He waved his hand dismissively “Whatever, I don’t care about your name” he then proceeded to shove his face way too close to mine “ AND I don’t want you around unless you can be useful to me.”

“What!? But this is my home!” I protested, all of my previous excitement gone.

“You know, I could just take your soul if I wanted. But I feel like you could be useful to me, witch.” I was surprised, at first. But then I remembered that, as a magical creature, he could probably see my magic like I can see his. Plus, my clothes are kinda obvious.

Hat kid leaned toward me “He's just trying to be all spooky and menacing but he probably won’t do it. And if he does,” she takes out an umbrella “I'll kick his butt again.”

“Shut up, brat!” Hat Kid started giggling, I couldn’t help but join her. Snatcher cleared his throat. “So, what do you say? You work for me and you get to stay here! That’s quite a generous deal if I do say so myself!” He said, as if nothing happened.

“Mmmh…” on one hand, I don’t want to work for him, but on the other, I'd love to get to know more about him… “I think… that… I'll… accept!” Right as I finished speaking, a contract appeared in front of me.

“Great! Now you just have to sign at the bottom!” I carefully read the contract and…

“Wait… I can’t give you my soul! I'd be useless as a rock without it!” Hat Kid looked ready to smack Snatcher on the face. He sighed dramatically.

“Ok, fiiiiine!” Another contract appeared and this time without any mention of soul stealing. I signed the paper before it disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke. “That seals the deal, then! I don’t have anything for you to do for now so you can go. But don’t bother me!”

At that he leaved.

“So, what now?” I ask Hat Kid

“It's getting late so I'm going back to my ship. Cookie's probably waiting for me.” I never realized but the moon was full and the sky covered in stars.

“You're right. It’s very late, I even think that it’s going to be morning in a few hours.”

“Oh no! It’s not that late. It’s just always night here.” Always night? That’s interesting.

“Oh. Well I'll be going home too then.”

“Do you need help finding your way?”

“No need, but thank you.”

“Alright! See you!” Hat kid waved before hitting some strange device on her wrist. She then disappeared. I definitely have to ask about that when I see her again.

I didn’t have too much difficulty finding my way back home. When I opened the door, I was met with a fluffy ball of hair (also known as my cat, Luciole) circling around my legs.

“Hey! C'mon, I'm gonna trip on you if you don't stop!” she looked at me with big eyes before dashing to the stairs.

My living room was mostly in good shape, minus the little bit of ice left and right. A broken jar was lying on the floor and the fireplace was lit. Man, temporary death really is exhausting. I was too tired to take care of the mess. I opened the door to my bathroom, removed my clothes and turned on the shower.

Today was… eventful… I learned that I was frozen in time, for a long long time by meeting Hat Kid. She’s energetic, nice and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. I like the girl. Then I met Snatcher. He's loud and rude… and not scary at all! But I'm still curious about him, are the books right about spirits? Do they really eat souls? What kind of magic does he have? Does he need to sleep? My thoughts were interrupted by the growling of my stomach. I quickly finish washing myself.

I exit my bathroom, towel wrapped around myself, to go in my bedroom that is upstairs. There, I found Luciole sleeping on my bed. I scratched behind her ear and then dove in my wardrobe to find some pajamas. My stomach was protesting loudly. I was almost running at this point. Going to my kitchen, I had to be careful not to step on any broken glass.

When I finally opened my fridge, hoping that there was any eatable leftover, all my food was frozen solid. Good news was, nothing went bad. Bad news, I can’t eat any of it. There was even mashed potatoes, my favorite food! Then, in a flash of genius, I grabbed that bowl of mashed potatoes, ran to my living room, and carefully placed the bowl in the flames of my fireplace.

“Hey buddy! Could you heat up my food please?” to anyone else, I would be seen as crazy, but to any fellow magic person, I would be talking to an elemental. An elemental is a piece of fire, air, water or earth given magic and by extend some kind of sentience. Witches can’t control the elements so we had to find a way to use them, as opposed to mages who can control them but can’t use any other magic.

In a flash of light, my food was heated and I could finally eat. At that moment, I realized that it was probably what happened to me. I didn’t remember to have lit my fireplace, and that broken jar probably was where I kept my little flame…

“Thanks!” The fire flickered a bit, like it was saying “You're welcome.”

As soon as the bowl was empty, I went to bed and quickly fell asleep.

\--

_I was in my garden when I heard someone walking close._

_“Good afternoon, Marigold. How are you doing?”_

_“Oh, hello Prince Luka! I'm doing great thanks!” The Prince was a rather tall man, slightly taller than average. His hair was brown and fluffy, his eyes soft and brown with some shade of golden. He was always wearing a smile._

_“Did you want something?” I asked._

_“Oh no! I just wanted to see how you were doing” he smiles “It is my duty as the prince to make sure all of my people are happy and well. Are you sure you don’t want to move in the city? Isn’t it lonely here, in the woods?”_

_He was the only one who wasn’t afraid to me, or at least he didn’t show it. Witches and other magical creatures had a bad reputation because of legends and myths. Of course, when they were desperate, they would ask my help in exchange of a bit of gold. I liked to believe that the Prince and I were friends, I didn’t really had any. It was just a dream of course. As he said, it is his duty to be friendly._

_“Oh, no need! I like it here!” All alone… he was right, it was awfully lonely but... no one would want me as their neighboor “Anyway! If you need anything relating to magic, you can always ask me.”_

_“If you say so… And I'll make sure to remember that!”_

_Should I tell him about the Queen's request? I was opening my mouth to speak b_ _ut, before I could say anything, he was already leaving._

_“Well, I better get going. I don’t want to keep my Queen waiting.”_

_He wouldn’t believe me anyway, he would just deny it, find her excuses, he's too much in love. Plus, he might tell the Queen and I would like to live as much as I can._

_“See you around!” I waved goodbye and he disappeared into the forest. Stars, the Prince could be such an idiot…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luciole is french for firefly, if you wanted to know.


	3. From warm to cold

That was a weird dream. I've never memory dreamed before… I wonder what that means. Now that I think about it, what happened to the Prince? …Let’s be real, he’s probably dead…

I didn’t know at what time I woke up. Looking out the window would be useless as I'll always see a night sky. I was starting my morning routine but I got interrupted by my cat. It sounded like she was hissing and meowing at something. When I got out of the bathroom to see what was happening, I was laughing so hard I almost snorted. I just interrupted what looked liked to be a hissing contest between Luciole and Snatcher. As soon as Snatcher saw me, he straightened his back and cleared his throat. If you squinted really hard, you could even see some yellow dusting his cheeks.

“Ahem! I've got a job for you to do! Some very annoying fire spirits have been hanging around my forest. Dispose of them. I don’t care how you do it as long as they’re gone. And, make them suffer.” He smiled darkly at that.

“Alright! Could you tell me were they are?”

He shrugged “Eeeeh… they’re a bit everywhere. My minions will tell you.” Well… that won’t be too bad I suppose… “Anyways! I'm off! Smell ya later!” At that, he dove in the ground and disappeared.

Fire spirits huh? I've seen some. They’re not too bad to deal with but man… their magical barriers are kinda annoying. I can see why the ghost would want them gone. But I have to admit, those were beautiful creature and their cycle of life was very interesting to study. Anyway, I finished what I was doing, got dressed and prepared for my mission. I put some fire in a jar and put it in my bag. I'll need it later. I grabbed my broom and flew off in the forest.

Barriers could be seen everywhere, blocking off certain areas. I hoped I wasn’t on the wrong side. I was well into the woods when I met some kind of creature. I stopped to take a closer look. It looked like a doll with one big yellow eye (?) that also worked as a head and was wearing a purple cloak. It was magic, for sure. That was weird, I've never heard of a creature that looked like that. It perked up as soon as I landed.

“Oh, hello! You must be the newbie. The boss told us about you.” That must be one of Snatcher's minion then. “Anyway, I saw some fire spirit that way!” The minion pointed at the direction.

“Thanks!” I went back in the air. The fire spirits weren’t too far. I could see them dancing around their bone fire. On the way, I spotted a painting and took it with me. The closer I was, the warmer the air around me was. When I approached them, one chanted:

“We want to die! Yay! We want to burn bright, and then burn out! Become a cloud of smoke! Our bone fire needs fuel… Only the finest paintings will do! Can you help us?” Fire spirits are different from “ghost” spirits. Fire spirits die and reborn from ashes and smoke, and that cycle never ends. They never were alive and they will never die, dancing between life and death.

I throw the painting I had in the bone fire. The flames go up and burn brighter, but it won’t be enough. Finding more paintings would take too long so I take out my flame and stick it to the tip of my wand. As the flame burned brighter with my magic, it turned purple. I then casted a fire blast. The result is the same as burning paintings.

All the fire spirits went up with the flames and once the fire died down, only a pile of burnt logs remained. I did the same thing for another group of fire spirits. The third one and last was in a swamp or bog near the hollow tree. I was so sure that there was more than three barriers. When I arrived at destination, Hat Kid was there. That would explain everything.

“Hey Hat Kid! Do you need help?”

“Hi! No this is the last painting!” She threw the painting, making the fire spirits go up in flames.

“Snatcher ask you to get rid of the fire spirits too?”

“Nope! I proposed myself. He said that you were working on it, so I wanted to help!” That kid I swear… She’s too sweet.

“Aww… you didn’t have to y'know.”

She smiles “I don’t mind. Now that we’ve finished, let’s go bother Snatcher!” She immediately ran off and I followed her on my broom, easily out speeding her. Snatcher was reading in the hollow tree, I landed at the front. Hat Kid arrived shortly after, panting.

“Wow… you were so fast! Just… give me one sec…” After some time, Hat Kid was finally breathing normally. She then dashed in the tree and I followed her. “Snatcher! We’re done!” Said ghost looked up from his book, annoyed.

“And here I hoped you'd fall in the swamp and die ... My dreams of peace and tranquility are ruined!” annoyance clear in his voice but no real harmful intent behind.

“What are you reading?” Hat Kid asked, completely ignoring what the ghost said.

“That’s none of your business!” the book was titled How to kill kids.

“Man… you’re still reading that stupid book? I mean, it wasn’t really helpful to you couldn’t kill me.” Hat Kid said with a smug face. Snatcher grumbled but didn’t say anything as he went back in his book.

“Are you conversations always like that?” I whisper to Hat Kid

“I just love to annoy him. It’s funny.” Weird… “Anyway, I'm going to the village to play with the Subconites, do you wanna come too?”

“Well I don’t know… Do you still need me Snatcher?”

“Actually, yes, I do.” Bummers…

“Aw man… Maybe next time!” At that she left.

“Don’t you _dare_ play with the cherry bombs!” He shouted but Hat Kid was too far away. Or was ignoring him altogether.

“What do you need me for?” Snatcher got up and floated toward me.

“To know how useful you can be to me, I need to know what you can do.”

“Why didn’t you ask yesterday?”

“That’s not the point!” still sounding annoyed.

“Well, potions are my specialty. I can make any kind of potion. And I guess I'm also pretty good at illusions.” He didn’t really look impressed… “But that’s not the only things I can do! That’s just what I'm the best at!” I quickly added.

“Potion making is useless to me since I can make whatever I want, but I guess I could find some use to your other skills.” I released the breath I didn’t realized I was holding. I didn’t want him to kick me out of the forest, I had nowhere to go… “I don’t have anything for you to do so leave now.”

But when I was about the leave, the wind was picking up and the air was getting colder… Her magic was filling every inch of space. I turned around to see if he noticed too. He did.

“Really? Now?” Saying that he was angry was an understatement. He was fuming, literally. The air was hot inside the tree, contrasting to the cold air outside. Hat Kid arrived with a bunch of minions.

“What is happening?” Hat Kid asked

“The Queen is still alive?” I said at the same time

“Yes. She is alive and She is doing this. Listen, I need you to stay here. I'll deal with it.” At that, Snatcher left, leaving us in the cold. Outside, it started snowing and another group of minions came. Hat Kid was shivering and so was I. I grabbed in my bag the jar with the flame to warm us.

“The Queen sometime leaves her manor to wander around the forest. There’s a snow storm only if She feels particularly angry or frustrated, and that is bad news.” A minion answered to Hat Kid's question.

So the Queen is alive… The only answer to this would be that She became corrupted and that her magic is what keeps her alive.

“What do we do now?” I could hear the worry in her voice.

“Stay here and hope that Snatcher’s stronger than the Queen… he can’t die so he's safe.”

“But he can get hurt! We have to help him!” I wouldn’t have guessed she was this attached to the spirit…

“I'm sorry but this is too dangerous for you…” I know what Queen Vanessa is capable of… She is very strong…

“What about you?” I started thinking… I could, couldn’t I… My power combined to Snatcher’s…

“Hey! Uuuh, Boss said that you had to stay here soo… I don’t think you should go.” My thoughts were interrupted by a minion.

Defeating the Queen would be easy if we worked together… Before I could decide on anything, I grabbed my broom and flew to the heart of the storm. I had to give my flame to Hat Kid so she wouldn’t be too cold meaning I couldn’t use that… The closer I got, the colder the wind was. I'll definitely have frostbites later. I could see something in the distance. Snatcher and the Queen were in a heated battle, ice colliding with fire. She was shouting some words about “her prince”. I casted a spell that stunned her for a moment.

“What are you doing here!? I told you to stay at my tree!” Snatcher shouted, shooting a laser beam from the ground, the Queen dodged.

“Hat Kid was worried so I decided to come help you!” If it weren’t for the wind and the noises of the battle, you could almost hear Snatcher mutter “I'm more worried about her safety...”

“I can take care of this myself! I don’t need help!” as he said this, a sharp ice projectile cut him at his side, making him bleed some kind of golden liquid.

“What were you saying?” Imitating Hat Kid's smug tone.

“Shut up! You’re distracting me!” Right… we were in the middle of a fight.

“Anyway, I'm already here so I might as well join in!”

I didn’t know what drove me to go and fight. Was it to have some sort of vengeance toward the Queen? Was it to protect my home? Was it because I cared about Snatcher's safety? I don’t know but it was definitely not the latter, he can’t die as I said earlier. One thing for sure was that I had nothing to lose. No friends or family, dead or alive, to mourn my death. I guess I had Luciole… but that’s it…

More ice, fire and spells were shot. The Queen, seeing that she had no chance of winning, finally decided to leave. The storm had calmed down, it was now only snowing a little. I could see the exhaustion in Snatcher’s eyes. The battle had exhausted me too, I had a few cuts and few frostbites on my face and hands. Luckily, those were superficial.

“Are you ok? Do you need healing?” I ask Snatcher, his side still bleeding.

“No. I just need a few souls and I'll be as good as new…” He seemed hesitant, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t.

“What was the Queen talking about? About the Prince?”

“Oh nothing... She thinks I killed him but really, if anyone killed the Prince, it’s her!” I nod in agreement. Well… Now I know that he’s dead… I felt terrible.

“Did you know him?” We were heading back to the tree. I was in front so I couldn’t see his face.

“Eeeeh… You could say that… Did you?”

“Yes. He was nice to me, he was my only friend. I don’t know if he considered me as his friend though…” I was so desperate for any sort of friendship “Being a witch, people are either afraid or hate me or both. He was the only one who wasn’t. Even though he looked ready to wet his pants the first we met! He probably thought I was gonna eat him for dinner!” I laughed at the reminiscence “He still came at least once a month to see how I was doing.” I don’t know why I told that to him. Talking to the spirit was nice, like talking to an old friend. Snatcher hummed.

“The Prince was an idiot and a coward…” Anger and hatred filled his voice, I was surprised. Everyone loved the Prince.

The rest of the walk was done in silence. The hollow tree wasn’t too far, I could see that most minions were gone and Hat Kid was still there. When she saw us, she immediately ran to meet us but careful not to trip and break my jar.

She looked ready to cry “Are you guys alright?”

“Yes, don’t worry!” I reassured her. I took back the flame, it was already warming my hands and face, healing my frostbites. “I have a few potions for healing in my house. Normally.”

“I'm fine! Now everyone go home and let me rest!” Snatcher was already slumped in his armchair. Well, best not to bother him.

“Oh! After you heal yourself, do you wanna see my ship?” Oh, her home?

“Uuh… Sure but I have to grab a few thing at my house.” My whole body was hurting , now that it was catching up with my injuries. And I was starving too. Fighting took a lot of my energy.

“Right! I'll come with you.” She was once again full of energy.

“Do you want to ride on my broom?” Her eyes were so bright it could’ve beat the sun. “Alright let’s go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How interested would you be in a Snatcher POV chapter?


	4. Another perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said I won't upload every week? I guess that was a fucking lie

I was having a great day. Sure, the hatted brat was in my forest but at least she wasn’t being an annoyance. I was patrolling like the usual, stealing the soul of some poor fools. But of course it didn’t last… I could see the kid in front of my tree with… someone? Now that piqued my interest. What has she done this time? I scolded Hat Kid. How dared she bring people in MY forest, she wasn’t even allowed here.

The trespasser turned around. By the look of her clothes and appearance, she was clearly a witch. Plus, her magic was strong around her. She had long blond hair that reached her knees. Her eyes were a bright yellow with two slitted pupils. Her face was somehow familiar… and annoyingly void of any fear. If anything, she looked more amazed than scared! Whatever. I had more important things to care about, like telling the kid that we are NOT BFFs. Until she spoke up.

“Um… Hello!” shy smile on her face, sharp teeth hidden. Apparently the witch had been frozen in time, that ought to be interesting. I introduced myself in the most terrifying voice I've ever done.

“I'm Marigold!” What! Not even an ounce of fright or even a flinch! Why wasn’t she shaking in her boots! She was just standing there, waiting for a handshake. Maybe some other kind of threat would do! There it was! The horror on her face, what a sight to behold! Apparently threatening her to kick her out my forest awakens fear in her. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long, fear replaced by anger.

A witch working for me might be useful… I may be a very powerful ghost but having an extra pair of magical hands could come in handy in the future… and I felt generous! Threat of soul stealing and proposition of work were made. Usually people tend to accept more easily when threatened. But of course, the brat had to ruin everything! Making me look like a fool! I cleared my throat to stop the giggling, turning all attentions back on me.

“So, what do you say? You work for me and you get to stay here! That’s quite a generous deal if I do say so myself!” She thought for too long, but finally accepted. Great! I made a contract appear in front of her and… What now? Oh, the witch won’t sign because she want to keep her soul? I guess I can make an exception. But only this time! (and definitely not because the brat was giving me the stink eye.) I made a new contract and she signed it. I stored it in my pocket dimension.

I still had a lot to do, like reading my favorite law book! Ugh… I could see fire spirits setting up their bone fire… I'll deal with it later. I comfortably sat on my armchair, summoning my book and let my thoughts wander. Marigold… was familiar to me for some reason… I remembered what Hat Kid said. She was frozen right? So she was here before Vanessa froze everything... Eh, whatever! I'll care about this later. I continued reading, letting time pass.

The fire spirit situation worsened. They were barriers everywhere! Luckily, I knew just the person to deal with it. I even teleported to her location. I knew where she was, like every one of my contractor. I reappeared inside of her house and got startled by a sound. A black cat? How cliché… It was hissing at me. So of course I started hissing back! It went on for a bit before I heard someone laughing. Oh, right… Someone was living here, that someone is my newest contractor and she just saw me hissing at a cat. A PECKING CAT! How humiliating! I quickly straightened my back and acted like nothing happened. I had a job to give her: getting rid of those pests that are the fire spirits, and to make them suffer.

“Alright! Could you tell me where they are?” How should I know!? They are everywhere! Mmmh… I guess my minions would know… So I told her that. And then left.

The brat was waiting in front of my tree… Of course she was, why was I even surprised.

“What do you want, kid?” I made sure to sound as annoyed as my voice could be.

“Oh, hey Snatcher! You're having fire spirits problems again? Can I help?”

“I already sent Marigold to take care of it, but whatever float you boat.” If the brat take care of the fire spirits, I won’t have to deal with her! And, the pests will be gone faster so that's a win-win for me! She immediately went off. Now one could argue that I could teleport anywhere I wanted but it takes a lot of energy! I just needed to wait for them to finish… I read my book while waiting. Time passed and I could hear the kid talking. I switched the law book to my second favorite «How to kill kids».

“And here I hoped you'd fall in the swamp and die… My dreams of peace and tranquility are ruined!” The kid was being a nuisance, like usual… Nothing new here!

“Do you still need me Snatcher?” Mmmh… I never asked what she was capable of, did I… Before asking the witch, I forbade the kid from setting off cherry bombs. They’re really annoying and cause damage in my village!

Now why I didn’t ask yesterday was none of her business! (and I totally did _not_ forget!) Potion making. Useless. Illusion? That could be interesting. Mmmh… I could find some use to those skills… She was leaving when the air became colder than usual. Uugh… I did not want to deal with Her. The kid was coming back too. That’s good. A snowstorm was coming, It's better if they stay here.

“The Queen is still alive?” So she knows that it's Vanessa's doing… It didn’t really surprised me.

“Yes. She is alive and She is doing this. Listen, I need you to stay here. I’ll deal with it.” I immediately teleported. I thought about all the ice it will leave. Such a pain in the a-

“You!” There She was.

“Yep, that's me alright. Now how about you go back to your manor and leave me and the forest alone!” I was ready to fire, my hands were absolutely not shaking (come on Snatcher! Get it together!)

“You! You killed my Prince! You are going to pay for it!” I dodged her attack and fought back. Suddenly, Vanessa stopped moving, seemingly loosing balance. What? I looked around and saw… Marigold?! What the peck was she doing here?

“Hat Kid was worried so I decided to come help you!” The kid was worried? I don’t need her to worry about me! And I absolutely don’t need help! ( ~~I did worry about Hat Kid though~~ ). But of course, as I was talking back, ice cut me at my side. Great! Now she's mocking me! I need to focus and it's hard to when someone is talking to you!

The fight felt like it lasted forever but eventually, Vanessa left. That fight took a lot from me, I could have almost passed out. Marigold was in no better shape, she was covered in cuts and frostbites. I should have asked if she was fine but I hadn’t had the time.

“What was the Queen talking about? About the Prince?” we were heading back to my tree.

“Oh nothing… She thinks I killed him but really, if anyone killed the Prince, it’s her!” She locked me up in the cellar and would do it again if she had the chance… Just thinking about it sent chills up my spine.

“Did you know him?” I'm glad she couldn’t see my face!

“Eeeeh… You could say that… Did you?” What was I supposed to say!? I couldn’t say that I was the prince, that I turned into an horrible soul stealing monster and that I now haunt the once beautiful kingdom that was Subcon!

It hit me. I remember her now… The day we met practically flashed before my eyes. Stars, I really was a moron. If only she knew!

We walked back to my tree where Hat Kid was waiting. When the girl noticed us, she was running toward us. Everyone’s alright? Good, now I want to relax! Thinking back on things, the witch might help me with a little something.

I fell asleep and dreamt of garden and magic…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I wrote Snatcher right... Anyway, I might do some more Snatcher POV chapter later?


	5. Hanging out

We hopped on my broom and started flying. Hat Kid was laughing and screaming the whole ride to my house.

“Wow! It was sooo cool!” She was still dizzy from the speed but quickly regained her balance.

My house was still a mess. Whatever… All of my healing items were in my kitchen. I applied some healing cream on my cuts and the now “melted” frostbites. It should heal in no time.

“What are all the books in your bookshelves?” I’ll need to make a new garden, food was lowering at an uncomfortable rate…

“Oh, uhm. Those are mostly books for potion making, there are also some books on magic in general and magical creatures, or gardening. And the rest are books I read in my free time. Do you want something to eat? Tea?”

“Oooh! Neat! And yes, I'm starving!” I made sandwiches for the both of us and heated a pot of tea. “What kind of books do you like reading?” she asked, waiting for me to finish making the sandwiches.

“I love books about adventure and friendship, with lots of action! I enjoy reading about gardening too.” I handed Hat Kid her food. My wounds were gradually healing until completely disappearing.

“Did you know the Queen?” she asked more seriously?

“I mean, who didn’t know Her? Haha… but yes, She came a few time here.” I still remember what she asked me to do. I should have told the Prince. But it wouldn’t have changed anything or the fate of the Kingdom.

“How could you tell it was Her?” curiosity in her voice.

“Well… It's because of the magic. I can tell whose it is. The storm was created by her magic, so I could tell.”

The sound of purring broke the conversation. Luciole had decided to join us in our meal.

“What’s it’s name?” Hat Kid asked between bites while petting the cat.

“Luciole.” She meowed pleadingly for some of my food

“That’s a weird name…”

“It’s because it’s French, it means firefly.”

“Ooh… Ok! Anyway, I'm full! Thanks for the food!”

“No problem, I'm almost finished then we're good to go.” I quickly ate the rest of my sandwich.

The little girl was tinkering with the device on her wrist before motioning to hold her hand. When our hand made contact, my whole body felt like it was disintegrating then put back together. When I opened my eyes, I was in a spacious room full of colors. Several doors were at the opposite walls. Everything in that room was unknown to me. Hat Kid tugged my dress, making me look back. The sight before me blew my breath away. A planet, Earth, was there floating in space, right before my eyes. I could see Subcon forest from here.

“That’s cool right?”

“Incredible…” I whispered. I've heard of space, we barely knew anything back then. Wait, what does it mean? Hat Kid bought me here in _her_ home. In _space_. “What are you?” I turned to her.

“I'm an alien!”

“You’re a what?” I must have made a funny face because she started giggling. Hat Kid then explained everything. From how there's other planets to what a vacuum was. I could barely process everything as there was so much information.

“So you're telling me that there are other planets in the universe, that you are from one of those planets and that you live in this… weird thing that is a spaceship?”

“Yup!” I guess I missed out on a lot of things while I was asleep. “Now let me show you around!” Hat Kid grabbed my hand and lead ne through the many rooms that composed her spaceship.

There were many things I still didn’t understand, like how the doors seemed to open and close on their own. Was it magic? No, I would be able to sense it. Also, what was in that big vault in the lobby? I could feel a tiny bit of magic in there. The last room was very large, with a bed on the opposite wall, a desk on the right and various other object, on the left was a mountain of pillow and two ramps on each side of the pillows. A telescope was standing in the center of the room. I could see purple candles wearing the face of a certain spirit in the far left corner.

“Does Snatcher come here often?”

“Oh! Uh… yeah!” It does surprise me a bit. It's not the kind of things I expected from him. “He had some extra hard contract for me. The Death Wishes, they were some kind of challenge and I had some cool reward when I finished some!” That sounded incredibly dangerous! I mean Death Wish? Seriously?

“Look! That’s a dress he made for me, as a reward!” She went through her wardrobe and proudly held up a purple dress “It's a witch costume!” the dress had a belt in lighter shade of purple and Snatcher’s face on the collar (the ghost really like putting his face on everything).

“That's nice, we can match!” I joke “Wait… you said he made it?” The guy can sew?

“Yeah! He made all of these too!” She showed me several other outfit and even hats! One of them caught my eyes, it was the green dress. An exact replica of the Queen's. What the peck? He really gave a child a murder's outfit? Well… He _is_ a soul stealing ghost that probably killed more people the I could ever imagine… And he tried to kill the girl at some point. His kind of humor I guess… Couldn’t judged him though.

We hung out for some time. I showed Hat Kid some cool magic tricks. She was very easy to impress. It was hard to tell how much time passed since we were in space. My stomach growled, telling me it was time to eat. And that it was the evening.

“Are you hungry? I think I have some leftovers in the kitchen.” At that, she got up and gestured to follow her. “Usually Cookie cooks for me but she's not here today.”

“Who’s that?” She mentioned that person yesterday too.

“Her full name is Cooking Cat but I call her Cookie. She come here sometimes to make me food or to make sure I take good care of myself. You should meet her sometime!” So that ‘Cookie’ is kind of like her guardian.

Hat Kid heated up the food in some strange device. I asked her about it. Apparently it's a microwave. All of this technology was so foreign to me… We were eating in peace. The food was delicious! It was called ‘mac and cheese’. I've never eaten such food before! I definitely need to ask for the recipe. We were happily chatting about anything and everything when Snatcher interrupted our nice evening.

“Hey kiddo! Where are you?”

“We're in the kitchen!”

He appeared in the kitchen door. He was in a better shape than earlier so that's a relief. “Oh, the witch is with you!” He clasped his hand together and held a cheerful smile “That's great! I just happened to need her!” Really? Now? I was exhausted!

“Can’t it wait tomorrow?” I tried to ask.

“Nope!” I pouted “I need you to do something about the Ice Queen. I don’t want her wandering around my part of the forest! Can’t you make something with your magic?”

I thought for a bit… I could try to make some kind of magic barrier… but I'll need to do some research about how and how big it has to be.

“I can try to make a barrier, but I can’t promise anything… I'll need some time.” He didn’t seem very happy with my answer.

“Whatever, don’t take too long.” He was about to leave when Hat Kid called him back.

“Wait! How about you two stay for a sleepover! Bow promised she'd come but she was called on a mission…” The first one to react was Snatcher.

“Absolutely not! I'm a very busy ghost you know! I don’t have time for that!” Hat Kid didn’t buy it one second.

“Reading boring books? Wow so busy.” Snatcher looked as offended as one can be.

“Excuse you!? I'll have you know that I do other things than reading!”

“Come on Snatcher! Just this one time! Marigold you’re in right?” As tired as I was, I could use some time to relax after this stressful day.

“I would love to!” Hat Kid then begged Snatcher to accept. I don’t think he will, given his aversion to the idea.

“Fine, fine! But only this once! And I do this only because you won’t stop bothering me!” Oh, guess I was wrong.

“Yay!” The child jumped up and down in excitement.


	6. Slumber party

Hat kid had changed into her pj’s. I did a quick travel back to my house to grab some stuff for the night and to feed Luciole, who was loudly complaining about the lateness of her meal. As for Snatcher… well, he just sat down at his corner, surrounded by his candles, a bored look on his face.

“So… we could watch movies or play some video games on my TV. Oh! We totally have to play truth or dare later. It's not a sleepover otherwise! Maybe braid each other’s hair?” Hat Kid excitedly said.

Sleepovers were awesome! Sleeping late, eating junk food, trying to summon demons, talking about our crushes and much more! However, I've never watched movies or played video games. What are those anyways?

“Whaaat!? Your don't know what video games are?” the girl was flabbergasted.

“It's not really that surprising, really.” I retorted “I doubt Snatcher knew either before you told him.”

“You'd be surprised,” the spirit smiled as if he just won an argument “I may come from the same time period as yours but I like to keep in touch with todays technology. And contrary to popular belief, I get out of my forest from time to time.” He bragged. Well, that makes sense I guess. I too would be curious about the advancement of technology.

“Why not play some video games? I'm very curious about what this is.”

We all moved to the main lobby. Hat Kid chose a racing game. She then explained the controls. Unfortunately, she had only two controllers so we had to take turns. The game was fun even though I lost a lot. At least Snatcher was as bad as I was. His excuse: “My hands are too big for the tiny buttons!”

“You’re just being a sore loser!” The girl agued.

“And I'm sure at 99.99% that spirits can shapeshift.” I added. Snatcher only grumbled as an answer. Usually when he knows he can’t win an argument. Hat Kid giggled.

“Whatever this game is stupid. Let’s do something else.”

“Hat Kid talked about doing our hair?” I proposed.

“Yeah!” We all went back to the girl’s bedroom. “Marigold you can do mine! And I'll do Snatcher’s!”

“What? No! Nobody touches my mane!” Hat Kid rolled her eyes.

“Fine… then do Marigold's hair.”

“How about you do your little thing here and I do my thing over there?” he pointed to his usual corner.

“You’re no fun!” she glared at him.

“Fine, fine…” he raised his arm as a surrender “Geez, kid. Drop the killer stare. I'll do it!”

We all sat in a line and started working. Hat Kid was the one who did most of the talking, as I was concentrating on doing her hair, I wasn’t very good but still tried my best. Snatcher was surprisingly good at it. Still rough in his movement but the result was absolutely amazing. He did a bun in the shape of a flower. The ghost really had many hidden talents.

“Oh wow, it's beautiful! Seriously, where did you learn how to do this?” I held up a mirror to see his work.

“When you're an immortal spirit, you tend to get bored quickly. I have to keep myself occupied, y’know.” Yeah, this makes sense.

“Now let’s play truth or dare!” We sat in circle, Hat Kid had an empty bottle with her. “Do you know how to play?” I nod. “Good. I start!”

She spun the bottle, it landed on me. I chose truth.

“Mmh…” the girl tapped her chin “When we met, you said people don't like witch. Why?”

“Well… that’s because people thought that we ate people. Well it's mostly true… but we don’t anymore! It's been forbidden a few millenniums ago.” I quickly added the last part. Hat Kid looked at me with big eyes.

“Why did they eat people?” I really hope that she doesn’t hate me…

“Well, I need to do a quick magic course. Long story short, magic is linked to the soul. You have a great example here,” I pointed to Snatcher “He's literally just a soul with a form and powerful magic. I don’t know if you had magic when you were alive.” He shake his head “Anyway, you probably absorbed the magic around you when you died, to give you a form. Witches believed that by eating the body, they would also consume the soul, making them stronger.”

“Like Snatcher?” Hat Kid asked.

“Yes! But it doesn’t work like that for living being. In the end, people found out about witches. They killed a lot of us. We finally made peace treaty but people were still afraid. Thus, why people hate witches.”

“Have you ever eaten people?” It's only natural to ask this question. I could feel sweat forming on my forehead.

“O-of course not!” At least not willingly…

“Oh, alright.” Snatcher however didn’t seem convinced.

We kept playing. I was mostly asked about my magic or to show some magic tricks. Snatcher almost always picked dare. Can’t get this guy to speak about himself.

“Alright! I dare you to read me a bedtime story! I'm getting tired.” Hat kid said before yawning.

“Can't you read yourself?”

“A dare is a dare!”

Snatcher huffed as a book appeared in his hand then he started reading. The little girl hurriedly walk to her bed. I wasn’t tired so I just listened. The lights were off, only Snatcher’s face lighting the room, and Hat Kid was slowly falling asleep, but still fighting to stay awake to hear the end of the story. The book ended with an happily ever after and a child light snoring.

“Do you often read her bedtime stories?” He seemed ever so slightly softer around the girl, I realized.

“Not very often. And I do this because otherwise she bugs me to death. And I'm already dead!” He whispered. Well, as much as a loud ghost can do. I hummed.

I closed my eyes, maybe I'll get tired.

“Why did you lie?” what?

“What are you talking about?” I really didn’t know.

“When you said you've never eaten humans.” Oh. “You're a terrible liar.” Stars, I did not want to deal with that. But, I had no choice. I sighed as I sat up.

“You’re right. I did.” He gave me a weird look “You can't judge me! You eat souls! That’s basically the same!”

“Touché”

“Anyway… the reason I did those things is because I was cursed. It turned me into a flesh hungry monster! Not all the time, but still… You've probably heard legends of a monster lurking in the forest and killing whoever entered the forest. I think that was me. Well now it’s you, but before the big freeze it was me.”

“Are you still cursed? I mean this forest has enough with one cryptid.”

“No, I'm not. Fortunately.” I sighed again “Listen, the only reason I didn’t tell Hat Kid was because I didn’t want her to see me only as a monster, because I'm not.” I paused “You know, being cursed is a sign of failure for witches and wizards and whatever. My family literally kicked me out, I am- I was all alone.” I didn’t cry, but I almost did.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I hadn’t noticed Snatcher getting closer.

“Hat Kid won't see you as a monster. Trust me, I tried.”


	7. Busy day

_They turned their face toward me. There was a hole in their torso, where the heart would be. My hands were bloody, the taste of iron still lingering in my mouth. Tears streamed down my face. Their last words echoing in my head:_

_“I love you.”_

_The curse was broken…_

\--

I woke up, crying. This wasn’t the kind of dream I liked to have… I wanted to forget it. Hat Kid wasn’t in her bed and Snatcher was nowhere in sight. I guess it was morning then. I got up from the makeshift bed. My back was aching. I rubbed my eyes and made my way to the kitchen, I was hungry.

“Good morning! How di- oh wow, you look terrible!” Hat Kid greeted me.

“Gee, thanks… As you can probably guess, I didn’t really have a good sleep. And my back hurt.” I yawned and sat at the table.

“Do you want cereals? I would make you something else but I'm not really good at cooking… ”

“Oh, don’t worry! Cereals are fine.” The girl set down a bowl in front of me. “Snatcher left already?” I thought he would be with her but he wasn’t in the kitchen.

“Yeah, he was already gone when I woke up.”

Right. He _is_ in charge of a whole forest after all. That reminds me, I need to find a way to make some kind of magical barrier. I was already planning the whole day in my head. First, take a shower. Then I'll head to the manor to see how big the barrier has to be, maybe explore the forest a bit. I'll go back home to do some research and also see if I can grow anything in the dirt and do some gardening. I finished to eat and Hat Kid teleported me back to my house.

I got ready for the day and directly went to the manor. I've never been there. I know where it is and I've been close to it but I never needed to go there. The manor was protected by an ice dome, open at the top. Mmmh, it’s quite large and would probably need a lot of resources to be able to make a barrier around the dome. I should ask Snatcher about it. If I can find him that is. I wasn’t in his tree… and not in the village either… None of the minions knew where he was. As I was wandering around the forest, I stumbled across a circle of purple vine sticking out the ground, magic emanating from it. That’s it! It’s one of Snatcher’s trap! If I step in it, it would immediately alert him. The vines shot up and darkness surrounded me.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! FOOOOOOOoo….. Oh wait, it’s you.” Wow… that was loud, louder than usual “What are you doing? Do you know how much time it takes to set up my traps?” he crossed his arms in annoyance. “And what about my voice? I can just scream like that all day!” That was quite ironic as he speaks loudly all the time.

“I was looking for you. This was the fastest option.” I said apologetically.

“What do you want? It better be important!”

“Well, it’s about the barrier. Making it around the ice dome would take a lot of time and resources. If I make it directly around the manor, it would be much better.” He seemed to be in deep thoughts as he answered several seconds later.

“Do whatever you need to do. But keep in mind that Vanessa could come out of her manor anytime. And possibly kill you.” Mmmh, I haven’t thought of that… and even if I used some illusions to hide, She can still sense my magic… but not if I'm far enough… I'll see about that later.

“Alright, thanks!” I was about to leave when I remembered something “By the way, what you said yesterday. It means a lot to me.” I smiled and left. I couldn’t see the slight blush spreading on the ghost face.

He's a soul stealing spirit. He wants people to think he's a monster. But he'll always fail because, whether he likes it or not, there’s still a human behind all that anger and resentment. A human that once lived and loved and was happy, sad and every other emotions. And he can’t get rid of that that easily. At least, that’s what I think.

I was flying back home. From my little exploring, I could tell that the forest is made of four parts. The village, the manor, the swamp which is a good portion of it and the burning part of the forest. I wondered how the latter came to be. The trees were dead, like all the forest inhabitants. Only some glowing mushrooms or cherry bombs grew here. Making anything grow would be impossible in this soil. There’s also some kind arena like area further down the village. Good thing I had my broom because it was on the other side of a chasm. Books were everywhere. Most about alchemy or potions. I had some of them in my house, but I wished I could have taken some with me. Unfortunately, they’re probably Snatcher's. There also was some kind of hole full of acid at the center.

I also learned that Snatcher's minion were actually dwellers possessing those doll like bodies. After their death, they signed a contract with him. They were of all age, children were the most commons but there were some teenagers and some adults too. They told me Snatcher made their bodies and repaired them. If I died, I probably would've signed that contract too. I wouldn't want to stay as a dweller if I had to choose.

Once I arrived at my little cottage, I began the researches. Books were literally covering the floor. After hours and hours of skimming through books, I stopped. I haven’t even gone through half of my collection. It was probably late afternoon and I decided to take a break.

I thought about my dream. I was busy all day, keeping me away from it. But now that I had nothing to do, it all came back…


	8. A day in the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting for a few weeks. I've been busy with school work.

Hunger woke me up. I was starving. After stretching, I walked to the kitchen. It was warm inside my little house despite the harsh cold of winter. I was still hungry, even after eating a very filling breakfast. It was going to be one of those day…

I got cursed at the age of sixteen. Fifty years later, I still haven’t found a cure. Quite pathetic for a healer... My best friend’s girlfriend cursed me. She was jealous of me. It would have been flattering if I hadn’t been turned into a monster! A flesh hungry monster… The King and the Queen didn’t know about me, fortunately. They send knights every so often, I just scare them away. I didn’t want to kill them, I didn’t want to have any more blood on my hands than I had to. I soon became a legend, a scary story you told to misbehaving children.

Someone was knocking at my door. It could only be them, Elias. The only person who knew who I was and wasn’t afraid. The reason why they wandered in the forest in the first place are unknown to me but I'm glad they did. It made my life a little bit less lonely… Their grandmother was a witch, so they knew a bit about magic and why we shouldn’t be afraid of it. They didn’t mind that I was cursed. They were the only one who looked at me with love in their eyes and not fear.

“Hello! Quite cold outside, isn’t it?” They smiled and walked inside. Their smile was the thing I loved most about them.

“It is... But maybe you should come back another day.” I didn’t know when I would turn… I didn’t want to hurt them…

“Why not? Today is the first day of snow! The forest is beautiful this time of the year. We should go for a walk!”

“What if the Queen sends guard? You could be in trouble being seen with me. Plus, I think that my curse will act up today…” Elias gently placed their hands on my cheeks.

“I'm not afraid, love. And I want to spend the day with you,” They kissed my forehead. “Now go wear some warm clothes!” They smiled again.

Stars, how could I resist their cute face. I'll just have to be careful and everything will be fine. Now ready for the day, I went downstairs. Elias was playing with Luciole, their face lit up with happiness and laughter. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

“Alright, I'm ready!” They turned their head toward me and when they looked at me, it was with so much love, like always.

“Let’s go then!”

Everything was covered in white. The snow was glistening and the sky was clear. My breath was making small clouds. I've seen many winters but this one was by far the most beautiful I've ever seen. I looked over to Elias who wasn’t looking at the scenery but instead at me. They blushed when they noticed that I had caught them starring and quickly looked somewhere else. I took their hand in mine.

We walked for some time. Elias talked about their life. They had recently received new books for their library, one of which was about a princess being snatched away in the forest by the monster living there. I knew very well what it was talking about… The subject was quickly changed. We stopped by the swamp for a break, it was frozen. I talked a bit about my week. Not much happens in my life, I didn’t have a lot to talk about.

“Have you heard the news?” Elias changed subject.

“No… What it is?” I didn’t really keep up with what happened in the Kingdom.

“The King and the Queen are expecting. They’re hoping for a boy.”

“Really? How long has she been pregnant?”

“They made the official announcement this week, so for about one or two months?”

We talked and walked for a long time, it was probably around midday by now. I hadn’t noticed my stomach noises of protest, too absorbed by how much fun I was having. But I couldn’t ignore it anymore…

“I think you should leave now…” I could feel my teeth becoming sharper.

“I won’t…” They were looking at me right into my eyes as I was turning into a twisted monster. Their eyes full of love, and not fear. “Remember when I told you about my grandmother. Well, I found a book in the back of the library, one about curses and how to break them..” What?

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because the only way to break your curse is with love.” It didn’t make any sense! Why hasn’t it broken earlier then? Didn’t we love each other? But before I could ask any question, I lost consciousness.

When I regained control over my body, I could only see red everywhere. The once white of the snow was now covered in blood. Elias was lying there, by some miracle still breathing. I quickly realized what had happened. A hole in their chest, where the heart would be… The taste of blood filling my mouth… It was all my fault. I couldn’t contain my tears. Their body was becoming cold. I hold them as close as possible, not caring about being covered in blood. I already was. With their final breath they said three words, still smiling.

“I love you.”

An inhuman scream left my mouth. Elias was the only person that had ever loved me despite my curse and I killed them. I truly was a monster…

\--

Even though a long time has passed since that day, it still hurts when I think about it. But life continues and I have to move on… Maybe I'll visit his grave if it’s still there. Elias’ mother buried them in the outskirt of the forest since it was their favorite place.

I walked, it cleared my head. I know where I need to go but the forest has changed a lot and it makes me a bit disoriented. A few spiders attacked me but I got rid of then quickly. Beside the spiders, there weren’t any other creatures around, not even a minion. It was calm, the sky was covered in stars and the moon was crescent. The trees were basking un the moonlight. It was in a way beautiful.

In a clearing, I found the grave. The tombstone was covered in vines and cracking. I sat in front of it and removed the vines. I still couldn’t read what was written on it, it got erased with time. When Elias died, I had hope he would come back as a spirit or even a dweller. But they didn’t. I guess they didn’t have any regrets…

There are still many things that I don’t understand. Why didn’t they tell me sooner about the book? Why did they have to sacrifice themselves at that moment and not later? But I won’t get an answer…

I stayed there for some time and even talked to them, even though they can’t hear me.


	9. Out in town

A week had passed. I still haven’t found a solution to my barrier problem. I did found a way to grow plants and food though, so I have that going on for me. It'll still take time for it to grow so I need to find a way to fill my pantry.

“Hello Snatcher!” He was in his tree house, reading a book. “Is there any village nearby the forest?” He lowers the book to look at me.

“Yes, there is. Why?”

“Weeeellll, I'm running low on food so I thought I could buy some. And for food I can’t grow, I'll need to buy regularly. Can you tell me where it is?” I shot him my prettiest smile. He pondered for some time...

“Sure, it's that way.” The ghost pointed at the direction.

“Oh, cool! Do you need anything while I'm over there?” He though for a bit, tapping his chin.

“Actually, I think I'll come with you. I hope you don’t mind but it’s not like you have any choice!”

“Not at all! It will be less boring! But, uh… Can we stop at my house first? I need to grab some stuff.” Snatcher sighed loudly.

“Ugh… Fine, but make it quick!”

We walked together to my house. Then I remembered what had happened. Oh boy, I hope Snatcher won’t be mad... Upon seeing green in the distance, the ghost squinted and started walking (?) faster.

“What the hell happened here!?” I let out a nervous chuckle.

“Ah yes. About that. I already told you about my food shortage. So I thought about making a garden but it was pretty much impossible to grow anything in this soil.”

“And you thought that turning the whole forest green was a good idea? What about my aesthetic! You know? Dead spooky forest?”

“Hey it’s not that bad!” About thirty feet radius around my house was filled with lush green vegetation. “I kinda overshot it… I didn’t know it would spread that fast!” Snatcher only grumbled and pinched the bridge of his non-existent nose.

“Just. Get your things already!”

I hurriedly grabbed a bag and some gold. I only needed to buy groceries for a few days.

“Alright, I'm good to go!” Broom in one hand a bag in the other, I was ready.

“Why do you have a broom?” Confusion clear on the ghost’s face.

“To fly, obviously. Anyway, I have gold. Is it good?”

“Not a lot of people accept gold nowadays. They use pons now.” Pons? Never heard of it. “By the look of your face I guess you don’t have pons. Here, and give me your gold.” Several green balls appeared out of thin air.

“Oh wow. Um… you don’t have to do this. Thanks!” I exchanged the gold for the pons.

“Obviously. But you work for me. I wouldn’t want you to die of starvation on the job now, would I? But now that I think about it, I could just give you the body of my victims, if there’s anything left of them!” Snatcher laughed at his own joke. But the idea of eating people made me want to throw up.

“Haha… yeah...” His laughter quickly died down and we finally started walking toward the village. “Why do you need to go to the village?” I was curious.

“Oh, y'know. To steal some mail.” What?

“What do you need mail for?” This was… unexpected.

“I'm not heartless you know. Every once in a while, I deliver mail to my minions. That way, it’s almost like someone cares about them!” Oh. That’s kinda nice actually. If Snatcher wasn’t a soul stealing ghost, he could be seen as a softie. I giggled at the idea.

“What's so funny!” He had an exaggerated look of outrage on his face.

“Oh, nothing,” I said with an innocent smile.

The village was farther than I had expected. Though, the forest had completely changed. The trees were healthier, the leaves were green and the sun was starting to peek behind the foliage. Stars, was it good to feel the sun on my face! Small animals were running up and down the trees and around on the ground. The forest was so lively here! It feels like how Subcon was before the Queen froze the kingdom. Snatcher looked... bothered , dare I say uncomfortable.

“Can’t you go any faster?”

“You want me to go faster?” I was flying slowly as to make sure Snatcher would keep up. But if he wants me to go fast, I'll give him fast!

“Do I have to repeat mys-“ I didn’t even let him finish his sentence. The trees were passing in a blur. I had to be careful not to plow into one. I could see the end of the forest. The village was near.

“BOO!” Suddenly, Snatcher appeared right in front of me, out of nowhere! I crashed right into him and landed on the floor. I could see stars floating around my head.

“What the peck! Why did you have to stand right in front of me!?” The ghost laughed at me and I started to realize… “And why are solid!?” I should have gone right through him. I poked him just to be sure.

“I can make myself solid.” How interesting…

“That’s cool. But right now, I'm sitting on the ground and my head hurt!” I rubbed my head, hoping it would ease the ache.

“Sorry!” Yeah… he didn’t look sorry at all! “Anyways, we're at the village now!” Before I could ask him how he would go in without being notice, he dove in the ground.

“What? Were did you-“

“Behind you!” I looked around and spotted Snatcher’s unmistakable face in my shadow.

“What the- What!?” That is so cool! He can hide in shadows! Can he do that with any shadows? In any size?

“Are we staying here or are we moving!” Right. Not the time for question.

“Sorry.” I got up and walked toward the village. I hid my hat in my bag, I didn’t want to draw too much attention to us.

The sun was high in the sky. Snatcher whispered to me to stop in front of some houses to collect mail. I couldn’t stop fidgeting from nervousness.

“Stop moving around so much, will you! You'll only draw attention to us!” Snatcher angrily whispered.

“Sorry, sorry…” Stealing mail is the most harmless thing the ghost does, but it’s still kind of a wrong thing to do…

Once he thought he had enough mail, I searched for a grocery store. People were turning their heads wherever I went. I felt… uneasy… I finally found a grocery store. Inside, people kept starring. I grabbed everything I needed and paid at the checkout.

“Never seen you around here. Where are you from?” asked the clerk. Oh stars, what should I say…

“I, uuuh… I recently moved… Not too far in, uh… in an isolated area...” Not suspicious too suspicious but can still raise some question…

“Oh, I see… Well, I hope you'll like it here.”

I quickly exited the store and the village altogether. It is a rather small village, I guess everyone knows each other here… And I guess that’s why everyone was looking at me funny. I hope…

“Wow. That went really smooth!” We were far enough from the village for Snatcher to emerge from my shadow.

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or if you really think it went well...” I put my hat back on my head. “Anyway… Let’s go back home.”

We entered the forest, ignoring all the keep out signs.


	10. Cold reality

Days passed and a routine was set up. I would wake up, do whatever job Snatcher gave me, with my free time I would read, tend to my garden or hang out with Hat Kid, and finally go to sleep. I go weekly out of the forest to the village to buy some groceries and sometimes visit the library. I started talking more to the minions (or Subconites they say). I've had a difficult time to remember all their names, they all look so alike! It's hard to believe that those were the same villagers as before. The same villagers who would look at me with fear and apprehension. They’re all so… different now.

“I'd understand if you were still afraid of me after what the Queen has done…”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re nothing like Her! And you never used your magic to harm people.” Cassie, a Subconite I befriended, assured me. She used to be a servant in the manor so I've never got to meet her before. It was weird to hear a fully grown adult speak in a child-size body. However, the Subconite didn’t seem mind.

“Yes, but…”

“No buts!” she interrupted before I could finish my sentence.

The Queen never knew how to use magic…

“I'm sorry for the way we treated you. You always helped us and we've never done the same for you… You are a great person.” she said in a softer tone.

“I-…uh… Thank you.” I was at loss for words… I didn’t know what to say… So I hugged Cassie, because those words lifted a weight off my chest and I felt like I could just cry right now.

\--

Hat Kid was hiding with a bunch of Subconites. The forest is huge it would be impossible to find them all… Why did I agree to play hide and seek again? Right… Those puppy eyes were fatal! And I couldn’t even use my magic. But I guess it _would_ be unfair… Until now, I've only found one of the Subconite, they weren’t hiding very far from the starting point, which was Snatcher’s tree, and they were quite bad at it.

I was walking around the forest, nobody in sight… It has been quite some time since the game started and I didn’t even covered half of the forest! I had found another Subconite hiding in the village, in one of the house, and another under a pile of leaves. But three other Subconites were still hiding, plus Hat Kid… My thoughts were interrupted by screams behind some bushes. I rushed past them and was horrified by the scene in front of me. A body laying on the ground, head nowhere in sight. Blood, so much blood, was pooling around the corpse. And Snatcher holding a soul in his hand. A gasp escaped my mouth.

“Oh, I didn’t see you there.” Tone quite casual, contrasting with the gruesome scene.

I knew that Snatcher kills people, but seeing it with my own two eyes… it was a whole other experience.

“Here, you can have the pons. I don’t have any use for them anyway,” he looked over the body before adding: “and neither do they now!” He threw the pons my way before shoving the soul in his mouth.

The smell of blood reached my nose, I wanted to throw up. Without a word, and without looking back, I left. The game of hide and seek forgotten, I was wandering around, trying to make sense of all the thoughts clouding my mind. What was I expecting, really? He said it himself since day one: he steals souls. Of course it involves killing people, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to truly have his hands on them. He did try to kill Hat Kid. And yet… I never imagined him actually killing someone. Especially not so brutally. That poor person, they totally lost their head! And it was _not_ sliced off.

“Ah! There you are! I was looking for you.” I looked up to see Hat Kid. Oh… right, the game… “You were supposed to be the one looking for me! Not the other way around! Anyway, that means I won!” She stood proudly, puffing her chest.

“Congrats!” I said with fake enthusiasm.

“Oh, are you ok?” Her happiness immediately turned into concern.

“I don’t really know… I saw Snatcher kill someone. It was… something…” I felt… conflicted. I think.

“Oh…” She was avoiding my eyes. Of course, I made her uncomfortable. What kind of topic is that to talk about to a kid.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t be talking about this stuff to you.”

“No, it's ok… I knew that… he does this kind of thing.” She looked down. “I had hoped he would stop… y'know, killing, after hanging out with alive people,” Hat Kid explained.

“Mmh, I could understand your reasoning.”

“Now that I think about it, Snatcher wants you to make a barrier of some sort around the manor, right?” I nodded “I think it would help.”

What was her reasoning behind that?

“How so?”

“Eating souls gives Snatcher power. He needs that power to protect the forest from Queen Vanessa.” I see…

“And if the Queen isn’t a threat anymore, he won’t need that power!”

“Exactly!” Stars, a small kid could figure this out faster than I did…

“You’re very smart,” I said with a smile.

“Oh I know. That spaceship didn’t build itself!” I couldn’t help but be in awe.

“How old are you exactly?”

“Ten Earth years I think.” Wow, that's really young…

“Where are your parents? Traveling in space this young without any supervision, that’s quite irresponsible from them.”

“Oh well that’s because I don’t have any parents.”

“You don’t!”

“Nope! Never had.” And she says that with so much cool!

“A-Anyway, where were you hiding?” Talking about Hat Kid's lack of parents was making me uncomfortable.

“I was on top of Snatcher’s tree.” Wait…

“You would've made me search all around the forest knowing I would never look up there!” She tried to hide her giggles but it was in vain. “And you’re not even ashamed! You should be!” At this point she was full on laughing and I soon joined her.


	11. Update

Hello! I just wanted to give you some updates.

Sorry for not updating for the past two month... School has been crazy and I didn't really felt any motivation to write. However, I'm going to remake the story as I'm not really satisfied with how I wrote it. No major changes to the plot but I want to make the story better. I haven't started writing yet so you'll have to wait a bit. The title will stay the same.


End file.
